Omatic Extr-Eco Wiggle Stick with K2 Formulas
Right before SIA I had the Omatic catalog land in my lap. This was the one stick that stood out to me as something unique, but not just because it is reverse camber. The idea of the B.S. (bowed surface) technology really made me question whether or not it was like the Bataleon TBT. When I got to Vegas and talked with the man behind it Jason Kanes and got to feel it out, I realized how different it is. Here’s my take on how it rode.
Board: Omatic Extr-Eco Wiggle Stick
Size: 156
Bindings: K2 Formulas
Stance: 22.5
Angles: 18 negative 15
Boots: K2 T1 DB’s
My Weight: 168
Resort: Keystone
Conditions: Cold and puking snow
Mindset: Lets see how much different than TBT this is
Tunes: Ozzy
Preconceived Notions: From riding a grip load of TBT boards there’s certain things to expect. I knew it would roll up on edge super easy and carve well. But I was questioning since the B.S tech runs all the way down the center was whether or not if I skidded a turn it would hang up, a problem I’ve encountered with TBT.
Flex: Stiffer in the tips and a little softer in the middle. Similar flex to the regular cambered version of the Extr-Eco or the Extr-Emo.
Stability: I didn’t notice anything that stood out as being unstable. I could charge with it and it was fine.
Ollies/Pop: This is where I found it slightly lacking. If I was flat basing and popped it seemed slightly dead to me. But if I popped off my edges it was absolutely amazing.
Butterability: Oh with that B.S. technology you could butter this thing around like nobodies business.
Cruising: The way the bowed surface works is similar to TBT’s but if you skid a turn I didn’t find it having that slight catch up that you get with a Bataleon. When I was in Vegas Tanya said to take it out and get up to speed and see if you could catch an edge. So being one to always test the theory of if you can or can’t I went forth and charged with and slid it sideways at warp speed. It didn’t catch up.
Jibbing: This thing was super fun on the jibs. You can lock it into a press and not have to worry about catching up on anything. Nose slides, board slides, and tail slides were a ton of fun as you didn’t have to fear the edge catching at all.
Rider in Mind: Someone that wants a deck they can rail a turn on but not have to worry about getting hung up on the edge. Definitely designed for the rider that knows the benefits of B.S technology.
Personal Thoughts: Definitely one of the most unique variations of rocker using base theories. TBT was fun but this takes it a whole new level. This board was so money for all the advantages that TBT has but takes it to a whole new level. It got rid of the one gripe I’ve had with TBT and that’s how it hangs up when you skid a turn. I’d like to get some more time on this for sure.
“>Kumbaya brothers and sisters-it is now officially cool to care about our planet. And already, we’re so environmental it’s making us sick-we’re totally turning green over here. With that in mind we’ve collaborated with the corporate worlds favorite eco bandwagoners, ECORPO to bring you the 2009 EXTR-ECO.
We’re still poisoning the atmosphere by rooping through the backcountry on 900cc snowmobiles, sometimes even helicopters, so we had to do our part elsewhere. We’re hip to green manufacturing practices, so we reduced the impact of our boards by making them with elfin magic.
This unique production process means that the only environment put in jeopardy by Omatic, is the one in the land of make believer. That’s something we can feel good about. The new EXTR-ECO features our cruelty-free VERTWALL sidewall technology for peaceful, powerful turns. The combination of a recycleable INTELIGENTCORE. optional B.S. base tech and certified organic TRIAXIAL fiberglass matrix give this new stick more pop than a turbo Hybrid Hummer.
Binding Compatibility: A solid match for the flex of the board and my style of riding.
Binding Adjustability: I had these dialed in from previously in the day.
Straps: Super cush and always hold me in.
Highbacks: I’m such a fan of the highback on these bindings. The mesh outer really allows for you to drive through turns with its stiffness but the soft inner lets you flex the crap out of it for jibbing.
Binding Flex: Even though its unibody they stiffened it up 2% (whatever that means). It’s one of the few unibody bindings I’ve ridden that didn’t feel that way.
Ratchets: Interesting factoid about the ratchets if you try to push the release down when the ladder isn’t in there it’s going to be a lot tougher than you think. The ratchet is built to not release unless the ladder is in it pushing the pin.
Rider in Mind: The all mountain freestylist that wants a unibody binding that you can charge with.
Personal Thoughts: I’m still not too sure if I’m going to get these or the Auto Uprises. Time will tell.
This year we have introduces a new derivative of the tried-and-true equation that took many years, pros, and engineers to perfect. The NEW! Pro-Fusion Chassis offers a performance-centric flex that is ready to take your riding to new heights and beyond. The NEW! Multi-position Ankle Strap Mount offers more freedom than ever….. and you thought we couldn’t make it better!
Popularity: 5% [?]
I read your site alot and you really like those Formulas. You think they’re better than the regular Autos? Someone said the Formulas were the same as the Autos without the convenience of auto technology.
The Auto Uprise for next year will be the Formula with Auto technology. Formula’s are possibly one of the most solid bindings on the planet right now.
angry,
Do the formulas toeramp or heelcup extend next year to accomodate those of us with size 12.5-13 boots?
Yeah you just have to buy the right size which should be the XL.
I’m thinking about buying this years formulas over Ride CADs, will XL fit my K2 T1 boots?
(no shops near me)
I just carve are they stiff enough?
cheers
That should read size 13…
some aussie metal for ya
http://www.last.fm/music/Christbait
Max make sure the binding size fits the boot size. A large fits from a 8 to 11 and a XL is 12 and up.
And that metal music is definitely not in the genre I like. Now if you find some sweet Aussie Hair metal I’d be down.
Thanks Angry
An opinion on CADs?
Unfortunately, our hair metal is just a blatant rip-off of Sabbath e.g Wolfmother
I never got a chance to ride the CAD’s but the concept is super awesome. You have the ability to cant the binding any way you want.
I’ve ridden this years bataleons and didn’t feel any catch, but maybe I wasn’t skidding turns hard enough. Did you encounter this problem on the newest version of TBT or an older version? (I’ve read TBT has gotten more subtle over the years)
I’ve ridden all of this current years but none of next years. TBT uses a wider profile than B.S. Plus it’s cambered.
I demo’d the Charlie Slasher FK and it skidded the turns pretty well, I could ride it at full speed on the groomers, and while I was nervous never caught and edge. And of course it was great on the powder. Wonder how similar the tech is to the TBT, im sure you know angry!
Capita utilizes a flat base while TBT has the 3 dimensional base. Two different concepts.
A little off topic..but what do you think about the Auto technology? You said next year’s Formulas are going to have this tech.I’m a little weary about durability of the auto tech. You think it’d last the abuse other regular bindings take?
I think it’s a great concept, might not be for everyone. I’m still tossing out whether or not I want to go with the Auto Uprises or the Formulas. As far as durability goes. I sold a shit ton of them and didn’t have one cable come back.
bignoldogg how’d you find the charlie fk in terms of stiffness/dampness
hey angry,
how would you compare the flat based pop to an bataleon evil twin or even a riot? just intersted, because i’m looking for a board with very nice pop, not just nice pop from the edge.
greetings
ph1l
anonymous,
I am a larger rider, and was riding a 164 charlie FK. I wound it to not be super stiff, it actually had great pop on the groomer, although in the pow in seemed to not flex at all (not sure on constructin) I loved it. Its seemed damp enough. I had not problem transitioning from hardpack to pow to crud to etc…. and i have bad knees. So lets, see my everyday board is a 2006 alibi and it was more damp had more pop and floated in the power better.. thats about all I can say (and oh yeah it was really really fast, all over the mountain)
Phil I’d say that they popped like a cambered board.
Actually I don’t get what is so “green” about this board. Could someone explain? To mean the press release reads like a joke as is the topsheet that is making fun of caring about the planet. I’m not having a problem in buying a non-green snowboard, but I’m having a problem in a buying a snowboard that is named eco and is not eco. However, probably in 10 to 15 years we won’t have any natural snow anymore and thats the point where i want to stop boarding. Its good to be green but I don’t think that people will cut their co2 emission to the minimum that stops global warming. I won’t ride on artificial snow because it just doesn’t feel right.
The whole point is to pick on everyone that is pushing green initiatives to sell snowboards. Most companies are just putting up smoke and mirrors to make you buy into it. It’s like how this board was called the Etra Emo last year and mocked trends in snowboarding.
To me it seems that Omatic tried to buy into this whole green thing in order to sell more of their boards. Don’t be naive here, they know that most people finally get a sense of green initiatives and want to buy green products and if you can count one and one together you also know that Omatic does not care about the impact their products have on the globe (just like any other company). Of course I know that some companies prentend to be eco-friendly and are not, but with such a board Omatic also picks on companies that tried to be green for years (of course in order to sell more boards), like Bataleon that produce in Austria since day one (and Bataleon doesn’t pronounce their eco-friendliness in every board description). And now that they got a sense of the impact eco-friendly products have on sales statistics they wanted to hop on the train, but couldn’t, because such factories already booked for years. And so they make a product that is called extr-eco and that is still produced under the same environmental damaging conditions as all their other boards in china to confuse the unkown customer that does not know their company philosophy. And that are many. Please do not come with such a phrase that every customer should fully inform themself about the products they buy, because you know most do not and you know that and Omatic knows that too. In my opinion they are just as good as companies that pretend to be green and are not. I would describe such behaviour as hypocrtical. Congrats, you found something that gets me angry.
Great board, odd company… Just my opinion.
Sorry, just read through the press release again and read that they have a collab with ecorpo. never heard of that company though. But my point is still the same. I don’t know anything about that company and how can I trust omatic now that their product is eco-friendly? i can’t…. and thats my point. seems to me their just building up smoke and dust as well.
a bit over the top , but I agree with the previous poster –
I realize omatic’s target market is young kids, but there’s more eco-mocking graphics on this board than friendly. Omatic jokes to the point were only a teen mentality would take them seriously (“BS” tech?
)
This board is a prototype. I’ve only seen this one review and no demos. The possibility of me buying it based on that is as much of a joke as omatic is making the board sound.
sarcasm. you two ever heard of it??? this deck makes fun of OTHER companies that use eco hype to sell product. just like last years extr emo was making fun of how all the gangstas went punk.
angry- alot of other companies seem to use base tech to roll up the contact points off the snow since those are the spots people seem to catch. the eco seems to do the opposite rolling up in the middle then tapering down to the contact points. youve ridden both types- which do you like???
oh- and ive read it has rocker and also read its flat- which is it???
I don’t know where you got that it rolls down at the contact points. But it’s actually an elevated contact point. They’re using a 3 stage rocker, so flat between the feet then raised up nose and tail.
Anything that raises the contact point up is a solid concept for sure. I rode a prototype believer with 0 camber and catch free base and while it wasn’t for me I liked the fact the contact points weren’t digging in.
Hey angry,
Could you please post a picture of the specs of the wiggle stick from the omatic 2010 catalogue?
Thanks in advance.
Greetings,
Phil
couple questions: you think the 157cm of this board would be ok for a 160lb rider?
and do you think union contacts or raiden blackhawks would be a better match for the board?
couple hypothetical questions i know, but answers are appreciated
Size is fine if you’re looking for it to be a bit longer and more stable with better edge hold. As far as bindings why on earth would you ever want to put Unions on anything?
haha thanks
those just happen to be the 2 bindings i own right now
not to annoy you, but another opinion question: is the board solid enough to be used as an all mtn board (with more bombing groomers than park)?
Go with the Raidens then they’re not that bad of a binding and have come a long ways in the last few years. Unions on the other hand keep taking steps backwards. You can definitely ride it all mountain I don’t know how well it’d be in a pipe or for extreme straight lining down big pitched steeps.
thanks, think im about to pick one up, a few too any edge catches lately.
my raidens are last years (as are the unions) btw
Put a 2 degree bevel on your base if you’re catching it’ll help.
is this board better for terrain park or free ride on the big mountain?
Park